Bureaucratic and cumbersome clerical procedures exist in all levels and branches of government, which contribute to inefficient processes. Civil registry services and citizen identification systems are no exception. National and local administrations have difficulties providing reliable and convenient civil registries and identification (ID) documents to citizens. Further, such administrations also have difficulties attempting to increase national security. Many attempts to increase national security have focused on increased control over denizens, reducing immigration fraud, enhancing detection of suspect individuals under false names and ID documents, and similar. Such attempts increase the need to collect, and/or update government records with, accurate, reliable and complete identity data of all individual citizens across entire populations.
Governments around the world have been adopting initiatives aimed at attaining efficient public administration through the application of technological resources. Significant advances have been brought about mainly through the use of information and communication technologies, attempting to disentangle the traditional bureaucratic and cumbersome clerical procedures in all levels and branches of government.
The agency in charge of data collection and authentication of vital records must typically make identity data readily available to other government agencies, and as a provider it must also guarantee the accuracy and fidelity of the supplied identity data. The availability and reliability of such data is a crucial requirement for the immigration, law enforcement, electoral, and security agencies of any nation. Specific state, local and federal government agencies, such as state Offices of Vital Records, or their authorized agents, are responsible for civil registry. Civil registry consists essentially of collecting, storing, authenticating and updating identity information and vital records of individuals, also known as biometrical and biographical information. The biometrical and biographical information includes, for example, information related to birth, adoption, nationalities, marriages, divorces, death, education, occupations, religion, home addresses, financial data, employment history, political inclinations, police records, hobbies, sports practiced, fingerprints, blood type, genetic information and, etc.
Other biometrical information, such as anatomical biometrical information, may include, for example, face geometry, facial features and singularities (for example, “face recognition”), hand and palm geometry, iris images (for example, “iris recognition”), retinal scan, scans of blood vessels and vein patterns, among others. Other biometrical information, such as characteristics useful in the field of biometry, which are behavioral, include, for example, typing speed, voice patterns, and body mechanics, among others.
Biometrical information is regarded as essential for assisting law enforcement and other security agencies to prevent and prosecute crime.
Citizens who need to obtain or renew personal legal documents such as birth certificates, ID cards, passports, marriage/divorce certificates, driver's licenses and the like, must comply with government regulations. The government regulations require citizens to register and/or update their identity information, which typically is a lengthy process that involves travel to visit the physical location of the appropriate authority or agency. Once the individual has arrived at the appropriate facility, the individual typically must provide requested personal data into documents. Alternatively, some facilities allow the individual to submit required data by means of a suitable procedure provided through a pre-registration website via the Internet.
After the requested data has been supplied by the individual, the individual must then sit in front of an official who receives the supplied documents, enters updated, missing or complementary information into a data entry station that may be a part of a network, takes fingerprints one by one, takes one or more facial photographs, captures a digital signature, etc. These procedures are time consuming and the locations or offices are usually crowded. The crowded offices thus require that people must wait in lines or for numbers to be called, often repeatedly in the case of more than one transaction or document type being sought. The process is thus lengthy and undesirable for people who may have disabilities, have children in tow, or have traveled from distant locations, such as remote rural or mountainous areas.
Individuals required to register must usually travel to a city to register. Often times, the person has incomplete documentation for registration and may be required to travel back and forth from their residence to the registration location multiple times to retrieve necessary documents or information. Due to the perceived excessive length and toil of the process, some individuals become disgruntled and may give up and turn away discouraged.
A registration service, endowed with the proper technological tools, and able to serve and perform civil registration duties for denizens closer to their homes or more accessible locations is desirable for achieving the goal of 100% percent registration of a given population, or desired group of individuals. For example, being able to set up the needed equipment in improvised settings, such as kiosks or booths set up within local neighborhoods, is desirable.